Jordan Belfort To Tyrus: 'Wolf Of Wall Street' Original Ending Was Scrapped For This Reason
Jordan Belfort, the former stockbroker whose memoir was turned into the 2013 Martin Scorcese film The Wolf of Wall Street, is joining Tyrus on the latest episode of OutKick's Maintaining With Tyrus that drops Sunday.
The two discussed how Belfort's real-life redemption arc while the film was in development led Scorcese to change the original story's ending.
You can check out a clip of Tyrus' conversation with Belfort below and be sure to watch the entire episode of Maintaining With Tyrus when it's released on Sunday on OutKick.com/Watch.
The Wolf Of Wall Street Was Supposed To End Differently | Maintaining With Tyrus
"The nice thing about the movie is it told the story, but it allowed room for redemption," Tyrus said. "It didn't end with the jail cell closing.
"It showed that you were able to come back from it. And I think that's probably the strongest message."
Belfort — who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film — explained that wasn't always the plan, and in fact, the 2008 writers' strike helped make that possible.
"The movie was first going to be made in 2007. And they got delayed, that the writers strike, so it didn't go back into production for four more years; 2011, 2012," Belfort explained. "What happened is when that movie was first written, the script, it ended with the door slamming, because that's where I was, I just got out of jail, right??"
Belfort served 22 months of a four-year prison sentence for fraud, but after getting out, he embarked on a new path.
It was that comeback story that made Scorcese realize he needed to rework the end of the script.
"When the time came round for them to make the movie, Scorsese said, ‘I saw these videos of you speaking,’ and he was so intrigued by the comeback story, they changed the third act," Belfort said.
Belfort explained that this also allowed the film to display one of its fundamental messages, that it's never too late to change your life.
"I think the lesson there is that it's never too late," Belfort said. "You can always rewrite your life story, but number one, you got to take responsibility for whatever you did wrong. You have to accept it and not blame others.
"And then, also, there are certain skills you're probably going to have to learn and master and then just take massive action, massive hard work, and it's never too late to change the story of your life."